Jim Cuatt has over 30 years of experience in manufacturing engineering roles. He is currently an Advanced Manufacturing Manager at Johnson Controls Battery Division, where he manages a team of 4 engineers and projects with a $19.2M capital budget. Previously, he held various engineering leadership roles at Johnson Controls, Hart and Cooley, and Innotec, where he specialized in developing manufacturing processes, equipment, and facilities for new product launches. He has extensive experience in lean manufacturing and processes involving plastic molding, metal forming, welding, and battery assembly.

1. Jim Cuatt
1800 Tiffany Shores Ct.
Holland, Michigan 49424
Cell (616) 212 6980
Email: cuattjim@yahoo.com
Training & Certifications:
-Trained in Lean Manufacturing, TPS, Value Stream Mapping, Kaizen and SMED
-Certified in Project Management
-Trained in AutoCAD & most Microsoft programs
- Extensive knowledge of equipment standardization and PLC/Robotic applications
-Skilled at developing process flow, PFMEA and control plans, Design for Assembly
-Completed Greenbelt training
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS:
- Passion for leadership of teams/projects and development of engineers.
- Proven ability to effectively plan, coordinate, and meet deadlines of multiple projects.
- Comprehensive experience in developing processes and equipment for new products as well as streamlining
existing operations and upgrading equipment and processes.
-Experience in lean manufacturing, plastic injection molding and extrusion, metal forming, welding,
upholstery, packaging and high speed assembly processes, and manufacturing lithium ion cells.
EXPERIENCE:
Johnson Controls Battery Division - Holland, Michigan June 2013 – current
Advanced Manufacturing Manager
Manage a team of 4 engineers whose responsibility is to acquire equipment to support upcoming prismatic
lithium ion battery assembly, laser weld, fill and formation. Currently managing a projects with $19.2M in
capital. Ownership of budgeting & forecasting, keeping team on track for APQP and launch deliverables,
setting design and process direction for upcoming new products and providing team with direction and annual
evaluations. Completed Greenbelt training class in spring of 2014.
Johnson Controls Battery Division - Holland, Michigan June 2011 – June 2013
Advanced Manufacturing Engineer
Responsible for launching new lithium ion batteries. Outsourced equipment to assemble and build hybrid
batteries. Project manager for $1.5M of machinery that was installed into the JCI Meadowbrook pilot facility.
Launch responsibilities included developing APQP documentation, overseeing equipment install and support
start up.
Johnson Controls Metals Division - Holland, Michigan May 2007 – June 2011
Advanced Manufacturing Engineer Lead
Responsibilities included quoting new business, creating manufacturing strategy for sold programs, developing
and managing capital budgets, outsourcing custom machinery, developing APQP documentation, overseeing
equipment install and support start up. Processes include rollforming, mig welding and assembly. Launched 6
programs with total annual sales of $538M. Purchased and set up $12.7M in new production equipment and
tooling in 2 years.
Innotec - Zeeland, Michigan September 2006 – May 2007
Project Engineer
Part of an R&D team that developed a patented processes to yield products made of 100% recycled materials
which were marketed to the furniture industry. Customer interface involved developing product designs and
validating performance requirements. Specified and oversaw build of custom processing equipment.
Hart and Cooley - Holland, Michigan February 06 – August 06
Advanced Engineering Manager
Managed engineering department of 9 engineers who were responsible for providing support for ten metal
stamping and painting plants. Projects included moving existing product lines to alternate facilities,
commissioning of new equipment and several new facility start ups. Duties included overall project planning,
managing capital budgets and developing the engineering team.

2. Johnson Controls - Holland, Michigan March 2003 – February 06
Advanced Manufacturing Engineering Manager
Managed a department of 14 advanced manufacturing engineers who were responsible for the launch of 49
different automotive interior products ($825M annual sales). Worked with sales and finance departments to
develop and present proposals for potential new business. Part of a team that researched and documented best
practices for manufacturing methods within the US plants. Also part of a team that developed corporate
specifications for custom built manufacturing equipment.
Johnson Controls - Sindelfingen, Germany March 2001 – February 2003
Manufacturing Engineering Manager
Objective of a two-year assignment was to become part of the core product launch team in Germany
who was responsible for the design and prototype phases of four total interiors for Mercedes 2005
vehicles. Responsibilities were to define all processes, create the capital and tooling budgets ($65M
budget), forecast spending and worked with German engineering team to design products for US assembly.
Johnson Controls - Saltillo, Mexico July 1999 – January 2001
Technical Manager – New facility start up.
Objective of the two-year assignment was to start up a new JIT facility in Mexico. Responsibilities
included implementation of lean manufacturing on all new assembly cells, mentoring Mexican staff on
APQP documentation, working closely with GM to resolve quality issues, production manager over several
departments and coordinating the communication between the Mexican and US engineering departments.
Johnson Controls - Holland, Michigan February 1994 - July 1999
Advanced Manufacturing Engineer
Defined assembly processes and oversaw the build of all custom manufacturing equipment for 15 new
product launches. Responsible for all capital and tooling expenditures, lean manufacturing
implementation, ergonomic analysis, defining plant size, utilities and layouts. Gained a solid knowledge of
PLC applications, interface between ILVS broadcast systems and assembly cells and working with facilities
department to design and build a new manufacturing facility.
Johnson Controls - Holland, Michigan July 1992 – January 1994
Manager of Maintenance and Manufacturing Engineering
Supervised a focused factory of 5 manufacturing engineers and 9 maintenance workers. Taught corporate lean
manufacturing classes (5S, Kan Ban, Kitting of Components and Workload Balancing). Lead Kaizen events on
21 existing product lines resulting in a 25% reduction in floor space through reduction in inventory and overall
organization. Enabled the plant to add new products and increase revenue by 18%.
Johnson Controls - Holland, Michigan July 1990 – June 1992
Manufacturing Engineer
Supported production on multiple product lines by troubleshooting assembly equipment to determine
root cause of quality issues and inefficiencies. Worked closely with urethane foam, fabric cutting and
injection molding departments. Developed fixtures and equipment that would improve ergonomics,
safety and efficiency. Trained operators on Lean Manufacturing and led Kaizen groups.
United Technologies Corp. - Plainwell, Michigan
Machine Design Engineer 1989 – 1990
Designed and developed equipment that would perform secondary operations to plastic extrusions.
Primary project was to develop a machine that performed a cut to length operation on seat welting. Machine
utilized a vision system integrated with a servo drive. That division of United Technologies was sold in 1990.
EDUCATION:
Bachelor of Science - Mechanical Engineering, June 1989 Western Michigan
University, Kalamazoo, MI